Emergency: dehydration and possible AP

[Jyf115]

I took in a group of 3 pinkies Wednesday night.

All 26-28 grams. Tent tests looked mostly ok, but they are kind of wrinkly anyway at that age. I messed up by not just going ahead with hydration.

I started them on Esbilac and all 3 didn’t really eat great. The female already had diarrhea when I got her home. This persisted through 2 more feedings and then I started her on Diastat and hydration feedings.

The other 2 started eating well and pottying well.

She started to get more and more lethargic and I was trying to give her any fluid she would take every 30 min to an hour. I did not think she would make it through the night. But everytime I checked on her, she was still barely breathing.

Today I subq twice (Lactated ringers), although I can’t really get more than about .4 ml in. All day about every 20 min I give her either oral Lactated Ringers or homemade Pedialyte. She has had no urine output since she came home, but 2 firmer stools last night and today. A few times she has perked up after subq fluids, but then returns to lethargic.

She is now breathing through her mouth and it sounds like popping - which only presented today.

I have 10% Baytril and gave a diluted solution based on her now 23 grams. It came out to .02 ml. I did give it orally. I don’t know what else to do at this point. Should I keep subq fluids? She will only take a swallow or 2, so I cannot really get anything substantial down PO at this point.

[Charley Chuckles]

Island rehabber is awesome with pinkies....hang in there, keep checking back

[island rehabber]

Hi Jyf115-- sorry I was not home but Charlie Chuckles reached out to me -- thanks Abby.

If the little girl is still with us, I'm sorry to have to say that the agonal breathing and popping sound is generally a sound that the end is near. This sounds like aspiration pneumonia and if so your dose of Baytril was correct and the right thing to do.

What is that baby's current status and how are the others doing?

[Jyf115]

She’s still with us so far. She looks about the same. She did take 0.2 ml of homemade Pedialyte about 20 minutes ago. I figure I’ll just keep trying.

The other 2 are eating/pooping/peeing like champs.

They are all curled up together at the moment.

How often can is it appropriate to subq fluids for one so tiny? Should I just keep trying oral and pray she starts feeling well enough to drink more? I’ll keep going all night if need be.

Also, in the Wild Mammal Babies it says therapeutically it is better to split the Baytril dose. So for tomorrow should I just do .01 ml in the am and .01 in the pm (assuming she is still with us)?

Hi Jyf115-- sorry I was not home but Charlie Chuckles reached out to me -- thanks Abby.

If the little girl is still with us, I'm sorry to have to say that the agonal breathing and popping sound is generally a sound that the end is near. This sounds like aspiration pneumonia and if so your dose of Baytril was correct and the right thing to do.

What is that baby's current status and how are the others doing?

[Jyf115]

Against all odds, she is still here fighting. She is still very critical.

I was told they were taken from a nest that was made under a car hood and the nest was removed. We had our coldest temps of winter so far last week.

They all looked so healthy upon arrival, but it is now obvious they all suffered extreme cold exposure. The female the worst of it. They will all lose portions of their tails due to frostbite, and she has some toes turning black. She has frostbite burns that came up over the course of the following days.

I have been waiting since Thursday night to find her passed, but everyday she surprises me. One night she even wandered off the heating pad and didn’t have the strength to wiggle back on, I found her white and ice cold the next morning at 4 am. I thought she finally passed. When I picked her up, she started moving. I warmed her up, but thought that was it. That’s was days ago.

Then Saturday morning at 2:30 am, she began passing bright red blood clots. I thought, she has internal injuries, this is it.

I don’t know how many lives this little girl has, but she has the most tenacious will to live.

[squirrelfriend]

As for passing the bright red blood clots, wouldn’t it being bright red means the problem is closer to the exit. If it’s in the stomach I think it would be darker and more brownish red not bright red. Maybe her anus is raw from the diarrhea thus causing the passing of bright red clots? It’s a better prognosis than internal bleeding.

i hope she’s feeling better and stronger.